Early Monday morning, the University announced plans to extend its staff hiring freeze “at least through the end of the summer,” as it faces continued financial headwinds from the Trump administration’s threats to higher education.
Already facing a $46 million budget deficit prior to President Trump taking office, the University, in December, announced plans to reduce faculty and staff growth, reduce PhD admissions and limit operating expenses.
Since the Trump administration announced plans to cut millions of dollars of the University’s federal research funding, Brown has filed several lawsuits against federal agencies, secured a $300 million loan and established the Research Resilience Fund, where donations will be used for gaps in research funding.
But these cost-cutting measures have not been enough to keep the University’s financial woes at bay, wrote President Christina Paxson P’19 P’MD’20, Provost Francis Doyle and Executive Vice President for Finance and Administration Sarah Latham in the Monday Today@Brown announcement.
Additional financial measures, including adjusting faculty hiring levels, reducing spending for “services and support,” changing graduate student admissions and “scaling back plans for capital investments” will likely be announced later this summer, the announcement reads.
Other cost-saving measures introduced in the spring, such as eliminating salary increases in the President’s Cabinet and freezing non-essential University travel, will remain in place.
Since April 3, the government stopped paying bills on Brown’s existing National Institutes of Health grants, which represent 70% of the University’s federal research funding, according to the message. In mid-April, NIH staff were instructed to freeze all funds to Brown and four other institutions, though agency staff have since been instructed not to cancel any more research projects, according to a June 24 NIH memo reviewed by the New York Times.
The lost funds, which totaled $45 million as of Monday, are increasing by $3.5 million each week, University officials explained in the announcement. They added that the NIH has also issued no new grants to Brown, nor has the agency conducted any annual grant renewals
The $45 million is “about double Brown's budget for salary increases in the coming year and more than three times our budgeted increase in student financial aid and support in the coming year,” the message reads.
Paxson, Doyle and Latham added that “in addition to working closely with our legal team to implement the best strategy to resolve the NIH funding situation, we continue to appeal the termination of research grants.” They also noted that they provide “substantial bridging funds” to faculty in the upcoming fiscal year.
Earlier this month, a federal judge ruled against the Trump administration’s cuts to NIH grants funding research related to health equity, racial disparities and the LGBTQ+ community, among other topics. The district court in Brown’s own lawsuit against the NIH — filed alongside several other universities — also ruled in favor of the universities, as did other suits against the U.S. Department of Energy and the National Science Foundation.
Beyond legal action, the administrators expressed that the University is “developing plans for a range of scenarios.” These scenarios will include the use of debt, which will be backed by the endowment, and identifying sources of research funding besides the federal government..
“The picture becomes more sobering as we brace for the impact of multiple Congressional actions,” the message reads, citing proposed changes to Pell Grants, federal work-study and student educational opportunity grants which could lead to a $8.8 million loss, University officials estimated. Threats to international students enrollment could impact the budget by “tens of millions,” they wrote.
The announcement also notes recent bills regarding the federal budget which would increase taxes on university endowment gains and impact federal financial aid. The message also acknowledged a congressional probe into Brown’s tuition and financial aid practices.
“All these losses represent an ongoing threat to Brown’s financial sustainability and, consequently, our ability to fulfill our mission,” the message reads. Despite efforts to reduce expenses, “the level of savings to date is not enough to counter the deep financial losses Brown is experiencing and must prepare for in the coming year.”
This is a developing story. Check back for more updates.
Cate Latimer is a university news editor covering faculty, University Hall and higher education. She is from Portland, OR, and studies English and Urban Studies. In her free time, you can find her playing ultimate frisbee or rewatching episodes of Parks and Rec.
